26 May 2014

Windows 8 is a Failure, Surface is a Failure, Time to Kill Both

Microsoft has been busy compounding its mistakes --It's Time to Kill Surface | stratechery by Ben Thompson: "....Windows 8 is a failure, rendering reason 1 moot. In fact, from what I understand the Windows group is laser-focused on simply making Windows acceptable to their enterprise base, which has been very vocal in their displeasure.... When you consider the original goals, none of which have been met, and the original dangers, all of which have come to pass, the only conclusion is thatSurface is a failure...." (read more at the link above)What Microsoft gets wrong about the tablet-laptop redundancy | Ars Technica: ".... like with all of the convertible laptop-tablets that have come before, we won't be surprised if this pitch's initial effect doesn't play out to a grand success."

TelexFree Bankruptcy, What Comes Next? (video above)Trouble at TelexFree: What Comes Next? - Spreecast: "TelexFree LLC, a Massachusetts Internet calling service provider, stands accused of operating one of the largest pyramid schemes in history. The company, now in bankruptcy, is facing civil fraud charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and its owners have been criminally charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. What path will the company’s bankruptcy likely follow, and what are the consequences for investors located around the word? Two lawyers who have been closely following the case join The Wall Street Journal’s Tom Corrigan to discuss."New success in protecting customer rights unsealed today - Microsoft on the Issues - Site Home - TechNet Blogs: "Posted by Brad Smith General Counsel & Executive Vice President, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft On Thursday, a federal court in Seattle unsealed documents related to an FBI National Security Letter that Microsoft successfully challenged in court late last year. This marks an important and successful step to protect Microsoft's enterprise customers regarding government surveillance.... "Google Close To Snapping Up Satellite Startup Skybox Imaging For $1B+, Say Sources | TechCrunch: "Google is closing in on a deal for Skybox Imaging, a satellite company that specialises in recording very detailed landscape pictures and video, TechCrunch has heard from three different sources."Book review: ‘Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper: How Innovation Keeps Proving the Catastrophists Wrong,’ by Robert Bryce - Books - The Boston Globe: "...A fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, Bryce delights in mocking the pessimists of the past and the present, with their anxieties over the prospects of environmental collapse and resource depletion, and deploys plenty of hard data to support his sunny view of the future. The reason for his confidence is summed up in his title. For the past two centuries, people have produced the necessities of life in far greater abundance and much higher quality because we’ve gotten so good at making things smaller, faster, lighter, denser, and cheaper... The “denser” bit might seem obscure, but it’s a crucial ingredient in Bryce’s formula. The Industrial Revolution, and all the marvels that have followed from it, were made possible by “dense” energy sources that deliver a lot of power relative to their weight...."